Chewing gum research has concentrated on the development of products that have a good taste and chew. This has been accomplished by adjusting gum base, flavor, sweetener content and flavor release characteristic. However, there has been difficulty in achieving easy bite, flavor impact, quick flavor release and sustained flavor in a single chewing gum composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,824 discloses a chewing gum composition having long lasting flavor. The desired result is accomplished by incorporating into the chewing gum a non-aqueous solid fatty or gelatinous material, e.g. butter. In order to provide initial flavor, a separate pre-sweetened or pre-flavored slab of conventional chewing gum is combined with the slab of gum containing the fatty or gelatinous material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,823 discloses a coextruded gum having a soft core portion comprising a polyisobutylene elastomer and in excess of 1% and usually about 5% up to about 10% moisture surrounded by a harder shell of conventional gum composition. This patent relies on the combination of plasticizers (glyceryl triacetate and acetylated monoglyceride) to provide softness to the gum base.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,825 discloses a coextruded gum having a soft center of high water content and containing a combination of at least two recrystallized sweeteners. No specific characteristic other than the physical characteristics of easy bite and easy chew are attributed to the soft gums of the prior art. The purpose is to provide a way for handling soft gum compositions in conventional wrapping machines. The soft gum composition is said to have an easy bite and chew.
The chewing gum compositions disclosed above are hydrous compositions--i.e., they have conventional or above conventional moisture levels. These levels of moisture can affect the stability of the composition through loss of the moisture resulting in staling. Those compositions having relatively high moisture levels usually are sticky and require special handling. Also, in attempts to reduce the likelihood of staling of hydrous gum compositions, non-transparent packaging has been utilized. The consumer is therefore unable to see how the product appears until the product is removed from the packaging. A welcome contribution to the art would be a gum composition having a sequential release of flavor (flavoring agents) which avoids the problems associated with the above described hydrous gum compositions. Another welcome contribution to the art would be a non-staling gum composition--i.e., an anhydrous composition--which can be packaged in transparent packaging materials so that the consumer has a visually enhanced appreciation of the product. Such a contribution is provided by this invention.